Russian to head to Milan next month
Andrey Rublev joined Alexander Zverev on Monday as the only two players who have qualified for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 7-11 November in Milan.
“I'm really happy and I'm really excited to play in Milan,” said Rublev. “I did hard work this year and I've had some great results. So I'm really excited to play Milan.”
The 19-year-old Moscow native has enjoyed a breakout season this year on the ATP World Tour. He exploded onto the scene in July, when, as a lucky loser, he won five consecutive matches to win his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

#NextGenATP Rublev continued to excel during his first full season on the ATP World Tour. Last month, the right-hander became the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. Rublev upset Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
Read More: What's Beyond Rublev's Meteoric Rise?
The 6'2" Russian reached another quarter-final earlier this month at the China Open in Beijing. He beat tour veterans Jack Sock and Tomas Berdych before losing to fellow #NextGenATP Zverev. Rublev now sits at a career-high No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Only two weeks remain in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which ends on 30 October, and will determine seven of the eight players who compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals. The eighth spot will be given to the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament. Rublev's countryman Karen Khachanov is in third place in the Race with 1,045 points. Canadian Denis Shapovalov sits in fourth with 926 points.

ATP World Tour Season In Review: #NextGenATP
Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com looks back at five #NextGenATP players who impressed in 2017.

Daniil Medvedev, 21

Medvedev was the last player to qualify directly for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, but the Russian made good use of his time in Milan. The Moscow native upset second-seeded countryman Karen Khachanov and American Jared Donaldson to reach the semi-finals, where he fell in five sets to eventual champion Hyeon Chung, 1-4, 1-4, 4-3(4), 4-1, 0-4.

Earlier in the year, Medvedev earned his first Grand Slam win and his first Top 5 victory by beating Stan Wawrinka on Centre Court at The Championships, Wimbledon. Medvedev also reached his first ATP World Tour final at the Aircel Chennai Open in India (l. to Bautista Agut).

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Denis Shapovalov, 18

As far as breakout stretches go, the Canadian had one of the best in recent memory this season. Shapovalov stunned Juan Martin del Potro and No. 2 Rafael Nadal en route to reaching his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final (l. to Zverev) at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. Shapovalov became the youngest ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-finalist.

Weeks later, at his first US Open, the Canadian upset another ATP World Tour mainstay in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before reaching the fourth round at the season's final Grand Slam. The left-hander enters 2018 at No. 51 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Karen Khachanov, 21

The 6'6” Russian might have the biggest game of all of his #NextGenATP peers, a key reason many pundits and fans have compared him to countryman and former World No. 1 Marat Safin. This season, Khachanov, who won his first ATP World Tour title in October 2016 (Chengdu), made four quarter-finals – Barcelona, Lyon, Bastad and Hamburg – and the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 500 event in Halle, the Gerry Weber Open. Khachanov, who turns 22 in May, can't return to the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals, but he'll go for his second tour-level title in 2018.

Andrey Rublev, 20

The top seed at the Next Gen ATP Finals, who is already No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, showed all week why he could be a Top 10 player in the very near future. After a slow start in Milan – a five-set win against Italian wild card Gianluigi Quinzi and a straight-sets loss to Chung – Rublev gained his composure, beating Shapovalov and Croatian Borna Coric to make the first Next Gen ATP Finals championship match (l. to Chung).

Rublev sat atop the Milan bracket because of his stellar second half of 2017. The Russian won his maiden ATP World Tour title in Umag and made the US Open quarter-finals (l. to Nadal).

Hyeon Chung, 21

South Korea's No. 1 entered the Next Gen ATP Finals under the radar: Chung was the second to last player to qualify directly for the tournament, and the trio of Russians, along with Shapovalov, had garnered much of the attention in the tournament preamble.

But that all changed once Chung took the court. The 21-year-old finished the week 5-0 and captured the title at the 21-and-under event. The sixth-seeded Chung had reached only a tour-level semi-final before Milan, but he beat Rublev twice – in group play and in the final – to celebrate the perfect ending to his 2017 season.

In Milan, Chung was at his best when he needed to bail himself out of trouble. The right-hander saved 77 per cent of his break points (34/44) in Italy.

Andrey Rublev, another #NextGenATP star, had better luck during his quarter-final match. The 20-year-old Russian, who was runner-up at last year's Next Gen ATP Finals, beat Croatia's Borna Coric for the second time in as many matches 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third semi-final of his career (also 2016 Umag, 2016 Milan).

Andrey Rublev was one point away from seeing opportunity turn to disappointment. Serving at 4-5 in the third set of his semi-final at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the 20-year-old faced match point against Guido Pella, who was seeking his third ATP World Tour final.

But after hitting a booming ace, the #NextGenATP Russian found his best tennis to escape the game and eventually the match, using an impressive 26 winners to swing past the Argentine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2) after a two-hour, 26-minute classic.

"It feels amazing. I have no words to describe this match," Rublev said. "I think it was such an amazing match for both of us. We made amazing rallies, such unreal rallies. I'm really happy that I won. I can say only good job to Pella for how he played. The way he played, it's unreal. I think we made a great battle, I think people enjoyed... I think everybody's happy."

Rublev will play for his second title after earning his first at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag last July as a lucky loser. The runner-up at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals last November is projected to crack the Top 30 in the ATP Rankings for the first time if he captures the trophy on Saturday.

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First, he will have to get past French wild card Gael Monfils, who will contest his fourth Doha final. The 31-year-old Monfils advanced to the 27th title match of his career (6-20) after top-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem withdrew ahead of their semi-final due to a fever.

"I'm very sad for Dominic and I hope he will have a speedy recovery," Monfils said. "I'm happy to be in the final for the fourth time here. I hope this one will be better than the other ones. I'm just pleased [with] the way the year has started and I'll be ready for tomorrow."

Monfils, who will play Rublev for the first time, has finished runner-up at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in 2006 (l. to Federer), 2012 (l. to Tsonga) and 2014 (l. to Nadal). The Frenchman says he would be thrilled to capture his first trophy in Doha.

"I will be very happy because it's a tournament that I really like," Monfils said. "It'll give me a bit more confidence for the rest of the year."

Andrey Rublev (Rank: 35; Age: 20): Tennis fans across the world should know Rublev's name after his 2017. The Russian won his first title at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag in July and became the youngest US Open quarter-finalist (l. to Nadal) since Andy Roddick in 2001.

Rublev has impressed early in 2018 as well, reaching the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final in Doha (l. to Monfils) and beating Spaniard David Ferrer en route to the third round of the Australian Open (l. to Dimitrov). Rublev, will, without a doubt, be one of the favourites to return to Milan. He was the top seed at the 2017 edition.

Andrey Rublev had a tremendous 2017 season, soaring from No. 156 to No. 39 in the ATP Rankings, claiming his maiden title in Umag and finishing runner-up at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

And after the 20-year-old Russian advanced to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final to open his 2018 ATP World Tour season, he still has not slowed. Rublev defeated 34-year-old Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4 in 75 minutes to move into the second round at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier on Monday.